Project Benefits

The proposed Oceanic Wind project is a utility-scale project that will help power the regional economy and growing local community, as well as facilitate job and economic growth.

The project promises long-term investments in the Prince Rupert region, assisting the Port of Prince Rupert with reaching its decarbonization goals and exceptional multi-billion-dollar expansion, fostering lasting economic growth and prosperity.

Wind energy is a pivotal component in the global transition towards renewable energy. By harnessing the resource in Hecate Strait, the province can drive down greenhouse gas emissions and pave the way for a cleaner, greener future for British Columbia and beyond.

Cost-Effective

Thanks to significant technological advancements in offshore wind, the cost of power will enable the project to deliver cost-effective and dependable power into BC’s electricity grid. A 400MW Oceanic Wind project will require approximately 33 wind turbines, which is a reduction of nearly 80 turbines from a decade ago.

Existing Data

The project will build on existing comprehensive environmental data to ensure there is minimal impact on the marine ecosystem, and will prioritize working with Indigenous Nations, the Port of Prince Rupert, local communities and stakeholders to ensure the project is planned and delivered in a transparent and inclusive way.

Why Offshore Wind

Wind over the water is generally stronger and more consistent than wind over land. With fewer obstructions such as hills, man-made structures and even trees, offshore wind produces more energy more efficiently than onshore wind.

Offshore projects are usually located at a greater distance from populated areas, and as such, are considered to have less visual impact, and much larger wind turbines can be constructed in the ocean to more efficiently harness the stronger and more consistent wind.

The Hecate Strait Wind Resource is one of the strongest and most consistent in the world with annual capacity factors over 55% and winter capacity factors of 65+% when the power demand in the province is at it’s highest and is an excellent renewable energy resource.

Offshore wind benefits
World Ranked Utility Scale Resource
  • 400 MW – 600 MW
  • Average Wind Velocity > 10 m/s (100% more power than an 8.0 m/s wind resource)
  • Capacity Factor > 55%
  • Excellent foundation conditions
    • Highly compressed seabed soils
    • Excellent for fixed foundation turbines
  • Capex continues to decrease from initial estimates
    • Larger, more reliable turbines
    • Much improved and faster installation methods
    • Asian supply chain (10% – 20% savings for major components)
    • Projects are tending to be larger with greater efficiencies of scale
  • Opex continues to decrease
    • Fewer turbines to maintain
    • Far fewer moving parts (no gear boxes, replaceable components)
    • Fewer turbines, fewer connecting cables and much higher reliability equates to significantly lower maintenance costs
PPA Price & Resource Comparison to Other Markets
  • Life cycle of most new projects is longer, 35 plus years, to reflect the bigger and more advanced turbine which reduces the PPA price
  • Asian and European prices for offshore wind continue to reflect efficiencies in the industry.
  • Asian supply chains will reduce costs for major components.
  • The power production from the project will be excellent given the High Capacity Factor and average wind velocity >10 m/s
  • The seabed is ideal for mono-piles (lowest cost foundation)
  • The project is very competitive with other long-term power alternatives such as gas, which is likely to remain at a high price for the next several years.
  • It is becoming very apparent that as the need for renewable energy expands to replace hydrocarbons that offshore wind will be the dominant source of renewable energy for at least a decade.
  • Below are 4 representative quotes from Offshore Wind Magazine (offshoreWIND.biz) from their November and December 2022 publications that indicate the scale and rate of worldwide development of offshore wind:
    1. “The Dutch Ministry of Economic Affairs and Climate Policy (EZK) plans to combine the first four IJmuiden Ver offshore wind sites for the purpose of putting them out to tender together. This means the sites III and IV will be auctioned next year, same as the sites I and II, instead of the initially planned 2025, with 4 GW of offshore wind capacity awarded in 2023.”
    2. “Four more applications for environmental investigation licenses for offshore wind projects have landed on the desk of Brazil’s Institute for the Environment and Natural Resources (IBAMA), bringing the total to 71 applications and 176.6 GW in proposed capacity.”
    3. California Lease Sale Winners Are: RWE, Equinor, CIP, Ocean Winds, and Invenergy. Floating Wind Farm Capacities Higher than Initially Estimated…The US Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) has brought in USD 757.1 million to the Treasury from the winning bids for the five lease areas and said that this well exceeded the first lease sales that were held in the Atlantic. … Equinor, RWE, Ocean Winds, and CIP have announced immediately after being revealed as provisional winners that their lease areas have the potential to host around 2 GW (Equinor), 2 GW (Ocean Winds), 1.6 GW (RWE), and over 1 GW (Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners) of installed capacity.
    4. Taiwan’s Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has started reviewing Environmental Impact Assessments (EIAs) for … offshore wind projects totaling 9.1 GW in capacity, with more than half of the nine projects led by European developers. The …projects are proposed by: Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners (CIP); Corio Generation and JERA; Northland Power; Synera Renewable Energy (SRE; formerly known as Swancor Renewable Energy); Taiya Renewable Energy and EDF Renewables; and Skyborn Renewables (formerly known as wpd) and LeaLea Group.
  • This project would be the first offshore wind project in Canada, and it meets priority policy initiatives around Climate Change, Renewable Energy, and Indigenous Nation partnerships of both the Federal and Provincial Governments. These factors will likely enable the project to be considered for funding assistance, which will further reduce the cost of the power.